Cheers dudes. Yeah, I thought I'd plant a small seed for the steam punk stuff that will be appearing in the sequel. My thinking is that both the Imperial Alliance and EDF have gotten a little bit complacent with energy weapons and shielding, so that high explosive cluster missiles and super-high velocity rounds as featured in the latest chapter of TROM, and the ingenious weaponry that you are coming up with for ROTDW, actually pose quite a threat to 31st century ships and vehicles.

Chapter 14: Crash LandingFlames spewed out of X-Bomber's main engines as it hurtled to the ground. The crew inside were fighting with the controls while PPA's drones tried to put out the fire that was raging in the rear of the ship. The console bound PPA was trying his utmost to restore systems that had gone off-line or become corrupted during the bombardment they had received from the ancient weapon platforms which left Professor Hagen, Lee and Hercules having to try and land X-Bomber the old fashioned way.'Hercules, fire the retros!' called out the Professor behind his console. 'Short bursts, 2 seconds apart. Lee! bring our nose up 20 degrees! PPA, how are the engines?''We have contained the fire, Professor, but the engines are badly damaged and are currently off-line!' squeaked the emotional android.'Off-line?!' growled Hercules 'What are we meant to do, glide her in?''Yes Hercules, exactly!' Professor Hagen tapped a few keys on his keyboard and called up an ancient automated flight program. 'PPA, access archive file 020034 and execute.''Bur sir this is madness these computations derive from The Ancient Archive. The code is over a 1000 years-old, surly we can't entrust our lives to such primitive commands.' squealed PPA, who for a perfectly programmed android was starting to, as Barry Hercules would say: flip his lid.'Execute the file PPA! We have no time to waste!' retorted a slightly annoyed Professor.'Yeah, do as you're told, bucket head!' shouted Hercules who had little time for niceties at the present moment or indeed at any other moment where PPA was concerned.All through this chaos, John Lee had remained silent as he fought to keep the X-Bomber from nose-diving into the alien rock below, but he felt the time had come to express himself. ‘W-W-Whatever we’re gonna do we better do it now! Impact in 30 seconds!’ The program was executed and the main screen which was home to PPA’s virtual self flickered and rebooted. PPA’s image returned, but his new appearance took on board the aesthetics of what Earth historians had come to term as '8-bit graphics'. In fact the entire ship was now being flown on auto-pilot with a fraction of the most basic computing power. No one in their right mind would ever think of gliding a space vehicle the size of X-Bomber to a landing in the 31st century, but thanks to a primitive program from The Ancient Archive which Professor Hagen had made sure was stored in X-Bomber’s memory banks they were now doing what their intrepid ancestors had done in the past.‘Hey Guys, It’s working! The new program has bypassed the corrupted systems, but it’s still going to be a bumpy landing!’‘Everybody strap yourselves in and brace for impact!’ Instructed Professor Hagen as the X-Bomber neared its designated makeshift landing strip. The downgraded PPA had found a relatively flat area for them to land, but the terrain was still very rocky and there was the added danger that if they didn't stop in time they would fall into the deep chasm at the end of the landing zone.'20 seconds and counting!' called out Lee after peering at his monitor. They were nearing the 'runway' now, but their approach was still dangerously fast.'Lee, keep the nose up!' ordered the Professor. 'Hercules, open the landing tracks!''Yes sir! Landing tracks opening!' replied Hercules.Compartments opened in the two rear pylons as well as the central one located underneath X-Bomber, revealing large tank-tracked landing gears. Professor Hagen had decided to install these after studying the flight logs of the X-Bomber, where he found that the vessel had a history of crash landings on rocky surfaces. It seemed to be a wise move as once again X-Bomber was in that very same predicament.'10 seconds!' said Lee in a tense voice. The hydraulic landing tracks were close to touching down on the rocky surface of the moon, but they were still coming in far to fast!‘Touchdown!’ shouted Lee in a modulated tone as the X-Bomber shook violently on greeting Gelma 2’s hard surface. They had landed successfully, but were now battling to slow the fast moving vehicle down before they ran out of runway.‘Hercules, full retros!’ instructed the Professor, still able to keep his cool while being buffeted around. Hercules complied, which slowed the ship down, but they now were dangerously close to the end of the airstrip.‘This is gonna be close!’ grimaced Hercules as the crew of X-Bomber closed their eyes and hoped for a miracle.The ship ground to a halt with the nose of the craft overlooking the great chasm below. Hercules was the first to open his eyes as he witnessed the hellish scene out of X-Bomber's window panels and exclaimed. ’Have we died and gone to hell!’‘Hercules, taxi us back to a... er, safer position.’ commanded a startled Professor Hagen who, while relieved to be alive, was quite staggered at the hellishly bleak environment they now found themselves in. They had all been too busy checking their consoles to notice the inhospitable nature of this planet as they had tried to land the X-Bomber. It now started to dawn on them that their crash landing was the easy part. Survival, in this desperate god-forsaken place looked to be a much harder task.A bolt of lightening hit the ground in the near distance and produced a clap of thunder that almost knocked John Lee off of his seat. ‘Woah! W-W-What was that?!’PPA was happy to explain to the young Lieutenant that it was a bolt of energy released from the dark clouds above. He then went into great detail on the regularity of such an occurrence on this planet.At that moment, and much to the relief of John Lee, who had grown bored of PPA's long speech, Shiro’s garbled voice blurted over X-Bombers com-link. ‘Hey guys, everyone in one piece?’ Shiro, Emma and the remnants of the X-Fighter wing had finished destroying the weapon platforms in their arrival sector and were now closing on X-Bombers position.‘Shiro! Thank the gods! Yes we are all fine here although X-Bomber needs some repairs.’ replied Professor, relieved that his son had survived the onslaught of the ancient weapon platforms.Braincom and the 11 surviving X-Fighters landed around X-Bomber’s position. Their small fleet had already taken heavy losses, without even a glimpse of their still unknown adversary. They all wondered what would happen next as they put on their environmental suits and made their way to the damaged X-Bomber for an emergency briefing.

Excellent! yet another gripping episode, that just begs the reader to wait for the next...I am really loving the slow growth of "Old-versus-New" tech that is creeping into this epic tale The Ancient Archive eh? Top stuff!Love the 8-bit PPA graphic and low computational power needed by the ancient Autopilot guidance files. Speaking as a pilot who has made her own glide-path landing for real in a light aircraft, whilst practising engine-failure landing drills, I can really connect with the last episode so well Also, the classic movie cliche (damn! can't find a way of selecting the letter "e" with the accent) "Emergency Landing Strip" with the pre-requisite chasm at the end, really made me grin Bravo there!

Wow! A pilot? That's pretty darn impressive! I'm afraid the closest I've ever come to flying an aircraft was on a flight simulator program for my old trusty Atari 800xl. I also had a space shuttle simulator which was incredibly complex for the time.Actually, there's a bit of a space shuttle vibe going on in the last chapter. I can't help but think that future generations will be shocked that brave men and women strapped themselves onto a massive firework to travel into space and then glide back down to earth unpowered. A lot of people have now come to consider the space shuttle to be a bit of a white elephant, but I'll be sad to see it go when the fleet is retired in June. I think it has been very influential on our culture, particularly in the 80s and It's a real shame that due to funding and politics there isn't even a replacement in the pipeline.Still, we have just under a 1000 years left to get to the point where we can build an X-Bomber. Plenty of time.

Ahh, yes I can see where you're going with the space shuttle thingy. It reminds me of a film, can't think of the name, with Bruce Willis in, where they land the shuttle in a similar hair-raising old-versus-new nailbiter.I'll miss the 'ol Shuttle as well. It's always been there, popping into space and back again. I made a working model of it when I was a kid with my brother, that used real rocket motors, and came back to earth on big parachutes. I think he still has it somewhere.It is a shame that there's no replacement due. But maybe other nations, like China, will be next into space with a similar craft?Still, as you say, we've only got 1000 years to wait for the real X-Bomber...

Chapter 15: Tragic RevelationShin Darrow's lifeless body somersaulted through the murky depths of space. His form was now composed of metal and ice with very little to suggest that he had ever been human.Flashback to three days before on Earth where Shin had appropriated the prototype of the Dai-Z for his obsessive crusade against the Imperial Alliance. With the power of Earth’s latest super-weapon at his command and a newfound insight, he had decided to seek out the heart of darkness that was the power-centre of the Thalian raiders and vanquish it once and for all.He was certain that the Thalian Zone and the planet Gelma were connected to an invisible web that stretched out throughout the galaxy; this web contained all the evil that existed in the universe and he was going to travel to the centre to unravel it.Shin had gone to great lengths in order to be able to carry out his plan.Shin had lied.Shin had stolen.Shin had murdered!The unfortunate EDF technician, Verne McDonald had been killed by Shin for knowing too much. Shin hadn’t seen his actions as evil. McDonald was an obstacle in Shin’s desire to rid the universe of evil so therefore that made McDonald evil too.Shin was insane!Shin had been aware of the mission going to the Thalian Zone, but the voices in his head assured him that this was a decoy to keep the remaining Thalian Invaders at bay so he would be free to assault the source of their evil power.Shin had received a lot of council from the voices inside his head. Often the enlightenment was so vivid Shin had felt that he had been transported elsewhere to receive commandments from a benevolent god.Shin had been deceived!Shin’s family had been killed during the F01 campaign which had effected him greatly. His mental health became erratic, but he was a brilliant young scientist who was needed in a time of war so his mental frailties were overlooked and he was assigned to Z-Project under the wing of the legendary Professor Hagen. Shin’s desire to rid the universe of the Thalian threat drove him on and would often result in him engaging in reckless actions.The voices had begun on Mars, but these whispers did not all belong to Shin’s conscious self. An outside force had managed to penetrate Shin’s fractured mind and subtly, over a period of time, implant ideas and knowledge pertaining to the Thalian threat. Shin had not so much been brainwashed, as manipulated by this outside force.Shin met his destiny.Shin had flown the Dai-Z to the Necros System, almost delirious in the knowledge that the final battle between good and evil was about to take place there and he would be the one victorious! The saviour of the universe!He was met by a large Imperial fleet, consisting of a Kathaar Battle Cruiser, two smaller Imperial frigates and a swarm of Imperial fighters.The battle was unusually swift as Shin despatched squadron after squadron of Imperial fighters in his Dai-Z star fighter mode, before engaging Dai-Z Transformation and making short work of the two Imperial frigates with Dai-Z’s bare metallic hands.Shin finished the job with a concentrated delta laser blast from the single eye of the Dai-Z’s head. This cut the Imperial Battle Cruiser into two and caused a series of explosions in each piece of the ship that splintered it into further smaller pieces.Shin had defeated an Imperial fleet, but this was not his main concern. He now awaited the arrival of the ultimate evil.Space began to bend and a large glowing image appeared and solidified into a familiar and infamous being.The Imperial Master now stood in front of Shin. This was his ultimate adversary? But he was dead surely, or at the very least incapacitated by the F01. Whatever. If this was the core of all evil, he would be finally and decisively beaten this day.‘I have been waiting for you Shin.’ boomed the Imperial Master ‘Do you really think you can stop me?’ he cackled.‘I will stop you!’ cried out Shin, ‘I will be the one that ends your reign of terror for good!’The Imperial Master continued to laugh, ‘Who for? Yourself? The Earth? Or your...family?’Shin screamed at The Imperial Master’s mention of his slain family and let out an uncontrolled blast from the Dai-Z’s Delta Laser. It, however, harmlessly passed through the Imperial Master as though he wasn’t there.‘Hahahahaha! Don’t you realise Shin? You cannot defeat an idea!’ said the Imperial Master as a second stronger Delta Laser blast passed through his body again.Inside the Dai-Z lights were starting to flicker and certain functions had become corrupted. Shin thought back to his time on Mars. This had happened before! He remembered how the Delta Laser’s Thalian technology had tried to meld with him on the Martian firing range. He sent out a third and final blast from the Delta Laser, but he now realised the full horror of his situation.‘You cannot defeat me like this, Shin, for I am only a figment of your imagination.’ said The Imperial Master.And Indeed he was. As were the Imperial fleet he had just recently defeated so efficiently.The Imperial Master was the outside force that had invaded Shin’s troubled mind all those months ago. In the Imperial Master’s weakened state he needed someone he could manipulate with the slightest of suggestion who would become very important in his master plan to return to the corporeal plane and rule it.Shin recoiled in horror and disgust as he realised what he had been driven to do. He had killed an innocent in order to save the universe, but he now realised the poor engineer’s death would forever be in vain. ‘Captain Carter must have felt like this once.’ Shin thought to himself. The Imperial Master’s subtle corruption had been every bit as efficient as a memory dissimulator, although Shin had been a much easier target than most.Wires and cables started to attach themselves to Shin’s body as the Thalian technology within the Delta Laser started to corrupt and assimilate the Dai-Z and Shin in turn.‘So now you finally understand? You are a mere pawn in the great game. And you are about to be sacrificed!’ said The Imperial MasterShin was now half covered with wires and circuitry, but there was still a small part of Shin’s mind that still existed behind all the alien metal.‘You are wrong!’ said Shin in a weakened voice. ‘If you exist in my mind, then I can defeat you!’ and with that Shin summoned all his remaining physical and mental strength to bypass the corrupted systems and open the canopy. The air of the filled canopy was sucked out into the vacuum of space along with the remaining air that had been present in Shin’s lungs. Shin’s last memory was of a defeated Imperial Master fading back into space. It was a tragic and twisted end to the poor scientist’s life as The Imperial Master was anything but defeated as he now possessed a powerful earth-based super-weapon which was to become a prize for his emissary.With Shin dead, the now corrupted Dai-Z ejected his half machine body into space where it travelled on it’s final journey.Flashing forward two days later we find ourselves at the beginning of this tragic tale.Shin’s spirit is at rest now and his physical remains are about to be scattered across the universe as his Icy body is pierced by a piece of space debris causing it to explode into millions of tiny fragments of ice and metal.Not everyone can be a hero it seems and some, no matter their best intensions, are destined to be villains.Rest in pieces Shin Darrow.

Chapter 16: The Great SkullThe Great Skull stood on the deck of his Space Galleon and stared into space. He had been awoken once more to carry out yet another mission for the ancients. How many of these missions had he undertaken previously? He no longer remembered. A short period of time had passed since he had risen once more from his state of hibernation and his mind was clear of the fog that was always present after reawakening from one of his long slumbers. This would be as good as it would get though, in regard to his piece of mind, for even now he could hear the quiet whisperings of his symbiotic counterparts. By the end of this mission those whispers will have become screams, rendering this poor ancient warrior insane once more; forcing him to sleep for yet another age in order to recover from the mental turmoil of living with seven other personalities. This was the curse of the Great Skull.'The ssssseven are together once more. Mending what was or will be broken.' whispered one voice.'Yessss, from the seven we are one.' said another in hushed tones.‘We exist for the force zero one.’ said a third voice.Three others voices also quietly conversed with themselves with matters pertaining to the cosmos and their existence within it, while a seventh began to talk to The Great Skull directly.'How are you feeling sir?' said the crystal face of The Great Skull's eye patch.'You don't have to call me sir.' said The Great Skull.'How are you feeling Great Skull?' said the crystal eye patch.'No, my skull is far from great.' said The Great Skull, giving out a little chuckle at his jape.'I do not think I totally understand sir.' said the crystal eye patch, 'Is this another one of those "jokes" that you have previously referred to?''Yes my friend. A joke. Much like my life. A sick, twisted, joke.' said The Great Skull.'Your life has had immense meaning and will continue to do so!' said the crystal eye patch, 'I am sorry that you have had to endure so much pain on our missions together, but you are the chosen one. The only one who could possibly handle such a heavy burden.''Yes, a life with the ancients is certainly never quiet, that much is for certain, but at least you can have long naps in between breakdowns.' said The Great Skull.'Another "joke" sir?' enquired the crystal eye patch.'Yes, my friend. A "joke".' said The Great Skull with a slight smile on his face, but a sadness in his eye.Shin Darrow had suffered terribly from mere suggestion by one that had been touched by the ancients. This paled into utter insignificance, though, compared with the trials that The Great Skull had had to endure, shackled to seven of the ancient order for eons.The difference between the two was that the man that had become The Great Skull had always been a hero. He had been pure of heart and possessed the most incredible mind imaginable and even after countless cycles of madness then rest in his second life as The Great Skull, was yet to be broken, and still the hero the ancients always believed he was and would be.The Great Skull possessed seven symbiotic entities. These were ancient energy beings that now resided in seven items on his person. The first and quietest of the seven, is found in his eye patch. Five others each lived in skull shaped rings on his right gauntlet. The final being lived in the skull shaped hilt of his sword. These 6 beings continually whispered to each other and on occasion provided guidance to The Great Skull. Unfortunately, over time the whispering turns into screaming which is sent directly into the mind of The Great Skull. His eye patch is able to filter out much of the mental noise, but eventually it is too much and it to, joins in the manic chorus of the six other energy beings, which eventually drives The Great Skull into a forced hibernation to prevent permanent madness.The Great Skull’s sword started to sniff and flew into his hand.‘Great Skull, sir! sniff, sniff, I sense something, sniff, sniff, a ship!’ said the sword.‘A ship?’ said The Great Skull, but before he could say another word a sailing ship much like his own jumped out of hyperspace and appeared in front of his vessel. A hatch opened and a beautiful woman who was half machine hovered out and gracefully landed on The Great Skull’s deck.The Great Skull adopted a combat stance. The sword in his hand was growling and hissing.‘Sniff, sniff, I smell the scent of the ancientssssssssssss.’ said the sword.‘I don’t wish to fight you fair maiden. What might your name be?’ said The Great Skull, looking at her own eye patch which was similar to his own. He couldn’t help, but think that there was something familiar about this woman.The woman gave her opposite a stern look. She too thought that there was something familiar about the man standing in front of her, but paid it no further mind as she started to speak.‘My name is Commander Makara, emissary of the Imperial Master. This is my ship, The Bloody Mary. And I am here to put an end to your life!’ Makara pulled her sword out of its scabbard and screamed. ‘On Guard!’

Wow, I missed the last one, I'm sorry.This is great stuff!Why is it that sci-fi writers (excluding yourself) forget that space is like maybe 2 or 3 degrees above absolute zero?So what becomes of the Dai-Z? I guess I'll find out soon.